Hey everybody...I am considering purchasing a C5 vette, or, possibly a C6...a little back story...

I am a hardcore ford fan, but I have always absolutely loved corvettes (I have brand loyalty, but I don't have brand discrimination, a good car is a good car, as far as I am concerned)

I sell ford parts for a living, and it's a good time...Here's my vehicular history

I have owned three 4.6L V8 Thunderbirds, two 96's and one 95, I loved those cars, had a ton of fun with them, my previous bird ran a low 14 second quarter mile...I stopped driving those, because, well, they are getting old, hard to find, and parts are pretty much non existent these days, and I grew tired of junkyarding every weekend.

I had a 2001 Focus. It seemed like a good idea at the time...That car sucked, but it was tough as nails and reliable as hell. I still didn't like it.

I had a 2004 competition orange manual transmission V6 Mustang...tried way too hard to love that car...don't miss it.

I had an 89 Chevy Caprice for a couple minutes. The alternator caught fire on I-40 in Kingman AZ...a thousand dollars later, that car was back on the road. 305 was a gutless boat anchor, but a reliable one at that. Good car, not my thing, was glad to see it go.

I had a 2013 V6 / manual trans Mustang...that was a fun-ish car for seven months. A bit of an overall disappointment. Decently quick, regretted not springing for a 5.0

I traded that Mustang for a 2013 F150 XLT SuperCrew with a 5.0 I still have that truck, a year into it, and I really like it. I had a nice true dual exhaust with a Magnaflow X pipe & Dynomax Bullets, added a 2" level kit up front, Boss 302 coil covers, AFE cold air intake, Rhino Liner...Weathertech mats....swapped the front middle seat for an XLT center console...Like I said, this is a fantastic vehicle, this truck is my favorite out of ANY vehicle I have ever owned. I took it to the track, got some strange looks, but ran a best of 15.7 in the quarter...not terribly fast, but really pretty impressive, IMO for such a big heavy vehicle that is nowhere remotely close to aerodynamic.

Like I said, I absolutely love the truck, the tuxedo black is beautiful, has every color in the rainbow in that paint, super cool...seems like GM/Cadillac has a similar metallic black that is quite nice.

But here's the thing, I have no real need for this type of vehicle, it was just sort of a "hey I've never owned a truck, why not" sort of thing...I thought I would have a reason to own it, towing, hauling, etc. I don't really have a need for that, after all...thought I might...nope.

The other thing, is this...I am going on 32, absolutely single, no kids, pending vasectomy, so, why do I have such a large vehicle capable of all of these needs I don't have? No idea.

I had a friend with a C5 Vette. That damn thing was insanely fun, women seem to dig them...and they're just fun!!! I work hard, long hours, at times somewhat high stress, yet very fulfilling. I am already paying somewhat high monthly payments to drive this pickup, insurance is relatively high due to the whole new vehicle thing...but my driving record is flawless, so, I don't think the insurance would be astronomical on the vette. Ran a couple quotes last night and it was close to what I currently pay.

The other thing was, I went to the track, realized the speed bug wasn't gone...so, it's time to do it right, with a real, actual legitimate sports car.

So, advice? I don't want a convertible, I like them, but I like a targa top better, An 03 or so Z06 would be okay, a C6 would probably have to be a standard (non Z) due to keeping pricing low...30 grand is really my absolute limit on pricing.

Should I go auto or standard? I like driving a manual trans, but I have no problem with autos either, more fun at the track in an auto, IMO...not that I would be racing all the time.

I would go as high as 50K miles or so, high miles don't really worry me, as it seems these are somewhat well cared for....but I would need to finance this thing, so, too old/too high miles would cause problems with financing the car.

On the other hand I have a super low interest rate on the truck, and I am paying it down fast...but even paid off, still no real need for a truck...granted, I don't know what I will be doing years from now, but I don't think I'd regret having a vette, just to do it...after all, if I didn't like it, I could always do something else (but I think that's unlikely)

Anything to look out for? Issues? C5 issues? C6 issues? I like the C5 interior and electronics better from an aesthetic point of view...but a C6 is probably a superior car in every way.

What do you guys think?

 

Welcome to the forum from So Cal !!!

 

Go for the best car you can get. Look at C5s and C6s. IF you look specifically for just one type of car (like only C5s or only C6s..or only red cars or blue or only automatics or….blah blah blah)…it might not be found in a timely manner, and also you might run into the one unintentionally that way. I had a 2001, it was amazing. I miss it all the time. To be honest, every Corvette I have had and sold, I wish I still had. Chances are if you bought a C5…you would unavoidably become a victim of the Corvette Fever and would want a C6 too. Once you get one, you can't just have one…they are just too much fun to only have just one. Back to the C5..the HUD is well worth having as a must. So the early 1997-2000ish (from memory) didn't have the HUD. For a Z06, 2002s finally had the HUD I believe. I love the C5s. For the money, they are hard to beat. The C6s are just sweet. The base cars just look cool, (just - satisfactory) but the wide body (Grand Sports, ZR1s, and the Z06s) just look brutally mean IMO. I have driven a 2006 Z06 with heads, cam, long tube headers, exhaust, chip/tune,etc. OMG. That was just a blast. As for the C6 interior, it is nice, especially for the later C6s…but what really makes it not very nice is all of the plastics, and the old and outdated radios and center dash IMO. Even the ones with the screens are just….lacking a lot. If I get to ever get a C6…I would customize the interior to make it more softer and modern.

Either way, C5 or C6…can't loose. They are a Corvette, and I own a 428 CJ '70 Mustang myself. I love it. I have to say that even after driving buddies modern Mustangs….(Mustangs are cool and al) that IMO the 2000s-2014s still leave you feeling like you are playing in the sandbox…fun, but limited and eventually getting disappointed and bored. Corvettes are like playing at the beach, where you have unlimited amount of sand, you have the water to play with, women/men, you can go surfing, and boating, and snorkeling, and blah blah blah. The amount of things one can do at the beach are almost endless. Corvettes in a completely different ballpark than Mustangs. I again love Mustangs, I own a monster of a Mustang, and it still falls short of the Vette. Once you get a Vette…you might be selling Chevy parts.


Best of luck and post some pictures when you get it. Also sticks are more fun. You get a Vette to go fast and have fun (safely of course) and having an automatic is okay..but not great. Sticks amplify the fun factor. Plus the resale value of sticks are higher than automatics.

 

Good luck and welcome!

 

Welcome aboard.

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

I'm biased towards the C6 generation, but a C5 Z06 would be an amazing car too.

The best way to figure it out would be to test drive both and then decide.

Good luck on your search and welcome to the forum

 

Welcome to the forum from MN. Good luck with your search.